{"id":8298,"date":"2025-08-12T09:10:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/?post_type=banking&#038;p=8298"},"modified":"2025-08-12T09:10:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:10:25","slug":"fixed-deposit-vs-national-savings-certificates-detailed-comparison","status":"publish","type":"banking","link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/banking\/fixed-deposit-vs-national-savings-certificates-detailed-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixed Deposit vs. National Savings Certificates: Detailed Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Fixed deposits and National Savings Certificates (NSCs) are both low\u2011risk instruments but differ in tenure, tax treatment and liquidity. FDs are offered by banks and can have tenures from a few days to ten years. NSCs are government\u2011backed certificates with a fixed <strong>five\u2011year<\/strong> tenure. As of July\u00a02025, NSCs offered <strong>7.7\u00a0%<\/strong> annual interest, compounded annually. Investors can claim up to \u20b91.5\u00a0lakh under Section\u00a080C for both FDs (tax\u2011saving FDs) and NSCs, but early withdrawal from an NSC is generally not allowed, whereas premature FD closure is possible with penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id='fd-vs-nsc-at-a-glance'  id=\"boomdevs_1\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">FD vs. NSC at a Glance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Attribute<\/th><th>Fixed Deposit<\/th><th>National Savings Certificate (NSC)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Tenure options<\/td><td>7&nbsp;days&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;10&nbsp;years depending on bank<\/td><td>Fixed 5\u00a0years<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Interest rate<\/td><td>Varies by bank (~6\u20137.5\u00a0%)<\/td><td>7.7\u00a0% p.a. (July\u00a02025)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Compounding<\/td><td>Usually quarterly or cumulative<\/td><td>Annually<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Liquidity<\/td><td>Premature withdrawal allowed with penalty<\/td><td>Early withdrawal not permitted except in select cases<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Tax benefit<\/td><td>Tax\u2011saving FD eligible for 80C (5\u2011year lock\u2011in)<\/td><td>Principal qualifies for 80C; interest taxable in the year of receipt<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Choose between FDs and NSCs based on your required lock\u2011in period and tax planning. FDs offer flexible tenures and easier access, while NSCs provide a fixed rate backed by the Government of India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-8298","banking","type-banking","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/banking\/8298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/banking"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/banking"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}